Fade Away
by volta arovet
Summary: Some time after the last evil digimon has been defeated, the children are left in the digiworld. As Joe is coming to terms with being an adult, he notices that the digimon seem to be disappearing. Is this an evil plot, or something more... inevitable?


**Believe**

_By volta arovet_

***Special Note*** This takes place in an Alternate Universe setting. It's not very different from our own setting, it's just that the children were able to stay after they defeated Apocalypsemon. This is all explained somewhat in the story, but it's nice to know up front. Also, the ages of the children during this story: Joe: 18. Sora, Mimi, Matt, and Tai: varying from 16-17. Izzy: 15. TK and Kari: very late 9's. Yes, I know these ages aren't really correct, but it does take place several subjective years later, and I've noticed that Joe acts like he's late 15 in the beginning, while TK acts a lot like my 6-year-old cousin.

Joe sat still, settled on the bank of the lake. Nearby, he could hear Gomamon splashing about in the water. Farther back in the woods he could hear the other kids and digimon preparing dinner, cleaning camp, goofing off. He could hear Tai say something—a joke no doubt, though the sounds were indistinct. TK laughed. Mimi giggled. Matt's soulful harmonica's notes drifted with the wind, swirling about the water before settling in gentle patterns of harmony and melody.

Joe heard all of this, but noticed very little. It was as if his brain took in all the information and funneled it off to another world—maybe the real world. Currently, Joe's entire world was four inches long, infinitely thin, and gray. He held the object in his hand, neatly pressed between two fingers. It was so small to cause so much inner turmoil!

Gomamon splashed over to where Joe was sitting, spraying him with water. Joe immediately snapped out of his reverie, sputtering, "Did you really have to do that?"

Gomamon grinned roguishly. "Of course! Did you really have to ask?"

Joe was forced to smile. The little seal had the unusual talent of being able to snap him out of a bad mood. Joe stood up. "Dinner should be ready by now." He stared up at the sun. "Actually, we're late. Let's go."

Gomamon jumped up onto the shore and shook out his fur, spraying Joe once again with water. Joe shielded himself from the spray, still clutching the object protectively in his hand. He looked at Gomamon peevishly. "Did you really have to do that?" he asked again. Gomamon opened his mouth to enter, but Joe cut him off. "Right, I know, I don't really have to ask."

"Hey Joe, what's that you have in your hand?" Gomamon asked.

Joe knelt to Gomamon's level and opened his hand, shrugging sheepishly. "It's just this."

Gomamon inspected it. "Is that one of my hairs?" he asked.

Joe shook his head. "No, it's mine."

Gomamon looked at Joe quizzically. "I didn't know humans had the ability to change the color of their hair!"

"We don't. I mean, unless we dye it, we can't really change it willingly," Joe explained.

"Oh," Gomamon said, inspecting the hair. "So how'd you get yours to change color?"

"It just did," Joe sighed. "It happens to everyone, eventually. It's a sign of growing old."

"So human hair turns gray when they get old?"

"'Fraid so," Joe admitted.

Gomamon seemed worried. "Does this mean you're growing old?"

Joe shook his head. "My family's known to go gray early." He carelessly tossed the hair away. "Besides, it's probably just a fluke." He straightened up again. "Now, what say we go get some food before Tai eats it all? We're late as it is."

"Good idea!" Joe walked off, Gomamon following at his heels. "I'm right behind you, old man!"

Joe rolled his eyes but didn't comment about the name. They entered their makeshift campground, their home for the past year—almost two years now. Nearly two years since the dark masters had been defeated. Two years of waiting.

Joe sat down at the table. He looked about; some people were missing. In fact, the table was conspicuously empty. "Where's TK and Patamon? And Mimi, and Palmon? And Sora? And Matt and Gabumon?" In fact, only Tai, Agumon, Kari, Gatomon, Izzy, Tentomon, and Biyomon were already at the table. And worried look crossed over Joe's face. "Did Elecmon call them? Have the dark eggs hatched?"

Tai put a hand on Joe's shoulder. "Chill out, Joe. Nothing's happened. They're just getting the food."

Joe was immediately suspicious. "Since when does it take seven people to serve dinner?"

Tai shrugged, but couldn't control the smirk creeping across his face. The others at the table had similar looks on their faces as well. Only Gomamon was able to keep an entirely innocent face, but that came from years of being a practical joker.

Joe warily looked at the other people. "What's going on here?"

As if to answer his question, the missing people and digimon came pouring out of various tents, holding food dishes and wrapped packages. Sora was at the head of them all, proudly holding an odd-looking cake.

"Happy Birthday to you," chorused the others.

Joe slapped his forehead. "Oh no," he said, embarrassed but still smiling.

"Happy Birthday to you," they sang again. Joe wondered who had taught the digimon the words to the song. He ran his hand down his face far enough so he could peek out between his fingers.

"Happy Birthday, dear Jo-oe!" Joe wondered who was to blame for this.

"Happy Birthday to you!" Joe winced as they attempted to go into harmony on the last line.

Gomamon wasn't about to let the song drop. "You look like a Numemon, and you smell like one too!" he sang inharmoniously. Joe was pretty sure that either TK or Tai was to blame for teaching Gomamon that verse.

Joe looked wild-eyed at the things set on the table. "What's all this about?"

"Happy birthday, Joe!" chorused the humans.

Joe pushed his glasses up on his nose. "I figured that one out from the song," he said sarcastically. "Why all the fuss? We've never celebrated birthdays this much before. Besides, probably only a few months has passed in the real world."

Matt clapped Joe on the back. "Don't be such a downer. Today's your big day. The big one-eight."

"How'd you figure it out, anyway?" Joe asked.

Sora stepped forward. "You can blame Gomamon for that. He was the only one you told last year. We counted three hundred and sixty five days since then."

Joe looked at Gomamon. "That's the last time I tell you anything."

"Come on, Joe, have fun. It's your party!" the little digimon enthused. "Besides, the sooner you open your presents, the sooner we can eat!" He looked at the food ravenously. "I caught the fish just for you," he added, confidentially.

"And Palmon and I picked the berries and fruits and prepared them just the way you like them," Biyomon added.

"Gabumon and I barbecued the fish," Agumon said. "Nothing like a little salt, pepper, and Pepper Breath to cook up a good meal."

"Mimi and I made the cake," Sora said, eyeing her confectionery wonder warily. "It may be a little lumpy, but I'm sure it'll taste just fine."

"I'm sure it will," Joe agreed.

"Open the presents," Gomamon whispered.

"Oh! Right," Joe said, reaching out for one of them.

"Ooh! That one's mine!" TK yelled happily.

Joe removed the tree bark wrapping paper. He held up the strange wooden object, turning it about. "It's great, TK! What is it?"

TK was undaunted. "It's a briefcase. Me and Patamon made it, all by ourselves. Open it up." Joe did so, and took out a long rope-like object woven together from long strands of marsh grass. Both presents had obviously taken a great deal of effort. "It's a tie," TK explained before Joe could ask. "Kari made it with Gatomon. Now that you're an adult, you can wear a tie and carry around a briefcase, just like my daddy does."

Joe had to laugh in spite of himself. "This is really great. Thanks, guys."

Joe lifted another package. He opened it. It was a large wooden ring with a handle on it. Joe was confused, but the object had a card on it. "A do-it-yourself mirror kit. Copyright Matt-Gabu-co. Directions: 1. Find a flat surface of water, preferably a lake or pool. 2. Hold the do-it-yourself mirror between you and water. 3. Look through." Joe looked up at Matt with surprise. "And here I thought you were too cool to have a sense of humor."

Matt did his best not to react, calmly studying his fingernails. "I never said I did."

Joe reached out for the next present, a card. Joe picked it up and read, "To Joe. Good for one digivolve. Use whenever you're in trouble and we'll come a-running. From Tai and Agumon." Joe smiled at his friends. "Thanks. I'll be sure to use it."

Izzy's present was next. Joe read the card that went with the present. "To the one who has always been able to see, even when the rest of us have been blind to the dangers of the world. May you never lose your sight. From Izzy and Tentomon."

"It's a case for your glasses so they won't get broken or lost when you're not wearing them," Izzy explained.

Joe blushed. "Thanks, Izzy, Tentomon. That's really thoughtful of you."

"Open mine, open mine," Gomamon urged."Okay," Joe said, reaching for the last present. It was a book. On the cover there was a crudely but meticulously drawn picture of Joe and Gomamon. "My Friend Joe," Joe read.

He opened to the first page, where a picture of Bukamon was drawn. "I like it when I'm nice and small…" Joe turned the page and saw a picture of Bukamon riding on top of his head. "So you can hold me up real tall."

The next page had a picture of Ikkakumon. "I like it when I'm big and gray…" The next picture was of Joe riding on Ikkakumon's back while he was swimming in the water. "So we can ride the water's waves."

The next page had a picture of Zudomon, his hammer held high. "I like it when I'm big and strong…" The next picture had Zudomon protecting Joe from various evil digimon. Joe could spot Piedmon, Puppetmon, Myotismon, and Etemon, among others. "So I can protect you from what's wrong."

The next page had a picture of Gomamon, grinning at whoever read the book. "But most of all, I like just me…" The final page had Gomamon being carried by Joe, the two of them smiling like they hadn't a care in the world. "'Cause you're the best friend that could be! Happy Birthday, Joe! Love, Gomamon."

Joe was touched. "That's beautiful, Gomamon. Thank you." He turned to where Gomamon had been sitting, but suddenly his furry friend wasn't there anymore. Joe looked around. "Gomamon? Where'd you go?"

Joe felt a heavy paw on his knee. He looked down and saw Gomamon, sitting in the same spot he had been before he disappeared. "I'm right here, Joe."

Joe jumped out of surprise. He quickly recovered himself. He wrapped his arms around his friend, squeezing him tight. "It's the best present I ever got," he whispered.

Gomamon wiggled happily in Joe's grip, wriggling back and forth like an excited three-year-old. "You're welcome, buddy, but if you start crying, I'm out of here."

Someone broke the tender moment by yelling out, "Come on, everyone, let's dig in!" and the digidestined and their digimon did so. At the end of the meal, everyone agreed that Sora's and Mimi's cake, though funny looking, was indeed the most delicious cake they had ever tasted.

Many hours later, all the food was eaten, the campfire had almost burned itself out, and the last joke had been made at Joe's expense, a birthday tradition. A weary Joe and Gomamon dragged themselves to their private tent. As soon as they reached the bed they fell asleep, Gomamon sprawled across the foot of the bed.

The next day was the day of parting. It had been delayed, unbeknownst to Joe, so everyone could be together for Joe's birthday. Half of the digidestined would stay at camp. The other half would set out on little excursions to check up on friends and make sure that no evil digimon was terrorizing any of the villages.

It was Joe and Gomamon's turn to visit Elecmon and the Primary Village. It was a good half-day's travel away from the main campground, and was uphill most of the way there. The two had little chance for talk until they took a break.

As the two rested, panting, lying on the ground, Joe noticed that Gomamon was staring at him strangely. "What are you staring at?" he asked.

Gomamon walked over to Joe and stared deeply into his face. His breath smelled like tuna fish and his whiskers tickled Joe's nose, which twitched instinctively.

"Do I have something on my face or something?"

Gomamon shook his head, turning away. "The other kids said you were now an 'adult.' I was looking to see if you looked any different from yesterday."

Joe affectionately ran his fingers through Gomamon's mohawk. "It doesn't work that way. I'm only legally an adult. Becoming an adult is a gradual process—it takes years. Besides, my birthday wasn't yesterday; it was three days before. You must have lost track."

Gomamon looked slightly miffed. "You didn't tell me that," he accused.

Joe shrugged his shoulders, pretending he didn't care. "It didn't seem that important to me. Besides, Kari and TK are going to be turning ten years old pretty soon. I didn't want to intrude on their parties."

Gomamon looked into Joe's eyes, his nose pressed to Joe's nose. "I've known you too long to believe that."

Joe playfully pushed Gomamon away. "Fine, you caught me. Truth is, I never liked birthdays."

Gomamon scrunched his nose up. "Why not? It's the one time you can get all your favorite food, plus you get presents, and everyone makes a big fuss over you."

Joe waved one hand in the air. "I've never liked having someone make a fuss over me. Besides, it may sound silly, but I just don't like the idea of birthdays and suddenly becoming an official adult."

Gomamon cocked his head slightly to one side. "Matt explained the concept of becoming an adult. He said it's kind of like digivolving, except slower. It's like, you were Kidjoemon, and now you're Adultjoemon. The same person, just different."

Joe leaned forward. Now they were getting to the crux of his problem. "And what if you couldn't de-digivolve? What if, once you became Ikkakumon, you had to stay that way for the rest of your life? What if you could never go back to being Gomamon?"

"That wouldn't be that bad," Gomamon said, pondering the hypothetical situation over. "If I could always stay as Ikkakumon or Zudomon I could help protect you better."

"Protect me from what? You haven't had to fight in three months, and none of us have even seen even a semi-evil digimon in over a month."

Gomamon nodded his head. "True, but I still think it'd be easier if I could stay digivolved."

"But what about all the things we do together? We couldn't go for walks together because you'd knock over all the trees. I couldn't pick you up and carry you on my back because you'd be too heavy. You couldn't sleep at the foot of my bed at night, or even in the same tent as me because you'd be too big," Joe said seriously.

"I never thought about that," Gomamon said, strangely serious. Spontaneously, he tackled Joe in a big bear hug; Joe instinctively wrapped his arms about him. Gomamon looked up into Joe's face and smiled. "Well, let's be thankful that I can always de-digivolve."

"Yes," Joe gasped, the wind knocked out of him. "If you had done that while you were Ikkakumon, I don't know if I would've survived."

Fully rested, Joe stood up, dumping Gomamon off his lap. "Time to get going," he announced. He looked down at his pants and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Aw, I've got another rip in my pants. I'm going to have to get Sora or someone to fix it." It was a very minute hole at the very bottom of his hem, but it was big enough for him to complain about. Joe looked back up. "Let's go, Gomamon." He looked about. Gomamon was nowhere to be seen. "Gomamon? Where are you?"

Joe felt a tug at the bottom of his pants. He looked down to see Gomamon trying to get his attention. "I said, I'm right here, Joe."

Joe jumped back, startled. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Gomamon raised his purple eyebrows. "I was right here the whole time. Are you feeling okay?"

Joe rubbed the back of his neck, trying to relieve the strain. "Yeah, I guess so." He took off his glasses and cleaned them on his shirt. "My glasses were probably just blurry, that's all." He put the glasses back on and stared intensely at Gomamon. "See? Problem fixed." If only the problem could be fixed that easily.

They resumed their hike and in a short amount of time arrived at the nursery. Elecmon spotted them climbing over the hill. "Ho, Joe, Gomamon!" he greeted them

"Ho, Elecmon!" Joe returned. "Have you any new hatchlings?"

The purple and red digimon waved Joe and Gomamon over to where he was. "As a matter of fact, yes." He was standing by the cluster of cradles. "Say hello, little ones," he instructed gently. A chorus of happy burbles and squeaks came from the cradles.

Gomamon peered over the edge of one of the cradles. "Hi, my name's Gomamon," he said to the young one. It was pink and yellow and had one long feather sticking out of its forehead. It chirruped happily at Gomamon.

Joe walked by, looking in each of the cradles. Two of them were conspicuously empty, but Joe felt that Elecmon must have a reason for it. He stopped at the cradle of a most interesting digimon. It was a bright electric blue and looked like a cross between a jellyfish and a hermit crab. "Hi there, little fella," Joe cooed. "My name's Joe. What's your name?"

"That's Guptamon," Elecmon said. "He just hatched yesterday."

Joe reached out and gently shook one of Guptamon's tiny claws. "It's very nice to meet you, Guptamon. Welcome to the digiworld."

Guptamon burbled a positive response. "Gup…mon," its watery voice warbled. A delicate bubble formed on its lips. It was carried upwards by the wind and popped on Joe's nose.

Joe laughed. "I think he likes me." He leaned in close to Guptamon. "You're certainly a cute one." Gomamon conspicuously cleared his throat. Joe sighed. "Yes, Gomamon, everyone knows that you're the cutest digimon in the whole digiworld. From now on, it just goes without saying."

Gomamon smirked, satisfied. "Just so long as we all know it."

Joe turned back to Elecmon. "So, how are the dark eggs?" he asked warily. Elecmon said nothing, simply motioning the two over to a special tent. As he walked by, Joe noticed that now only one of the cradles was empty. The little one must have been hiding in the bed sheets, Joe figured.

"Here they are," Elecmon whispered. Eight innocent-looking eggs lay on a table.

Gomamon and Joe both suppressed shudders. Joe asked his traditional question. "Are you sure these are the right eggs?"

Elecmon nodded and gave his usual answer. "Yes. We have checked the records and the patterns they give off. These are the dark eggs." He pointed to them in turn. "One day, each of the inhabitants of these eggs will turn into Devimon, Etemon, Myotismon, Metalseadramon, Machinedramon, Puppetmon, Piedmon, and lastly…" his voice trailed off, not wanting to speak the name of the final enemy.

Gomamon shook his head. "I still can't believe it. They look so…little."

"They'll get big soon enough," Elecmon murmured.

Joe turned to Elecmon. "Why haven't they hatched yet? I thought most eggs took only a few weeks to hatch. Devimon's egg has been here for over a year."

"Not that we mind that they stay eggs," Gomamon added.

Elecmon shrugged. "To tell the truth, I'm not exactly certain why. It could be because they're isolated. It could be because of their unique nature of being evil digimon. They could be taking their time to build their power as we speak. We really don't know."

"Then why don't we destroy their eggs right now?" Gomamon asked. "Not to be heartless, but it'd be a lot easier to get rid of them now than when they're fully digivolved evil digimon."

"They'd just eventually be turned into eggs again," Joe said.

"That's true. It was very difficult to find their eggs the first time. We might make a mistake if we had to try to find them a second time," Elecmon added.

Joe had a worried expression on his face. "Do you think we're making the right choice, isolating them like this? Maybe part of the reason they turned evil was because of the way they were treated."

"Patamon told me that all Puppetmon wanted originally was to have a friend," Gomamon pointed out.

"We don't really know how much is environment and how much is innate, but I think we're better safe than sorry," Elecmon said. He left the tent, Joe following him. "Come, I have something I want to show you."

Gomamon took one last glance at the dark eggs. He shuddered. "I hope they never hatch," his whispered to himself before following Joe and Elecmon.

Elecmon led the two to the toddler section of Primary Village. The little ones were running, hopping, and flying about with great abandon. Joe almost stepped on an insect-looking one while trying to avoid a flying bird-type digimon. Gomamon was having similar difficulties weaving about the tiny improbably energetic beings. Gomamon managed to get several of the young ones to settle down and listen to a story about The Human Who Climbed Infinity Mountain. Most of the others ran around, playing wildly.

One in particular caught Joe's eye. It had two tiny legs at the bottom of a large head, completely covered by a dark purple hat. Currently, it was chasing a tiny, orange, lizard-like digimon, which was giggling inanely in a breathy, hissing voice. The little one in the hat stopped momentarily at Joe's feet.

"You look familiar. Do I know you?" it asked Joe in a clear, musical voice. Joe felt slightly sick when he looked at the little digimon and saw that his mouth was partially sewn shut. He seemed vaguely familiar, however. Within moments, however, it went back to chasing the lizard-like digimon. The digimon in the hat was scooped up by Elecmon.

Elecmon pushed up the brim of the hat, revealing two brightly shining green eyes. "What did I tell you about chasing the other digimon?" he chided the little one.

"We were only playing," the little one protested. His voice, though youthful, was extremely melodic.

Elecmon turned to the orange lizard-like digimon. "Figamon, is this true?"

The orange one nodded his head. "We were playing tag," it hissed.

"Good," Elecmon said, patting the digimon in his arms on the head. "You must remember that a friend can be the most rewarding and valuable thing you can ever get."

"Of course. I remember having a friend." The little one's eyes narrowed slightly. "I can't remember her name, or what she looked like. But I know I have one."

"You have more than one friend," Elecmon instructed the little one. "Figamon is your friend, as well as all the other young ones here. I'm your friend, too."

Joe's eyes widened. "I remember why he looks familiar! He looks like Wizardmon. Is he Wizardmon, reborn?"

Elecmon nodded his head, a pleased smile on his face. "You're very observant. Yes, this one used to be Wizardmon, a long time ago. At this stage, his name is Shamanmon." Elecmon affectionately patted Shamanmon on the head and released him.

The young one hopped about Elecmon's feet excitedly. "Will I get to see my friend again?" he asked excitedly.

Elecmon pointed at Figamon. "You have a friend right there. And it looks like he wants to play with you."

Shamanmon scampered away, chasing after his friend. "Shamanmon is an interesting case," Elecmon said. "When a digimon hatches from an egg, one of two things can occur. It can either be born with all of its memories from its previous forms, or it will have no knowledge of its past lives. Usually all of the memories will return by this level of digivolving." He motioned at Shamanmon and the others. "Shamanmon seems to have some memories of his past, but not many."

Joe continued to watch Shamanmon, wondering at the fact that the brave and noble digimon he had met had become this playful, friendly little being. He knew where Elecmon was going with the discussion. "What if the dark eggs hatch the same way Shamanmon did?"

Elecmon nodded his head. "That's exactly the point I was going to raise."

"We've already decided that if they are born with full knowledge of their past, they should be destroyed immediately before they can build their strength and resume their quest for domination of the digiworld. If they are born without their memories, there is still the chance for rehabilitation. But what if they only have a few memories? Does it justify destroying them before they do anything? Or can we risk their remembering enough to be able to unite the dark forces?" Joe was struck by the moral dilemma.

"It certainly makes the head spin," Elecmon agreed. "At least with Shamanmon, we know what mistakes were made the first time. He'll have plenty of friends starting from early in his life."

Joe interrupted Elecmon. "Tell me, does Shamanmon have any special powers, like, say, turning invisible or teleportation or something like that?"

Elecmon shook his head. "Not that I know of. The only thing he has is something called 'Mystical Spiral,' a small circling of yellow beams. Why do you ask?"

"Because he just disappeared and reappeared," Joe said worriedly.

Elecmon raised an eyebrow. "Are you certain? He's never been known to do anything like that before."

"I was watching him. He disappeared, then reappeared a few seconds later," Joe insisted.

"Wizardmon was an interesting case to begin with, with several different powers along very diverse lines. Perhaps the same thing has happened to Shamanmon." Elecmon called to the little one. "Shamanmon, come here for a moment." The little one toddled up to Elecmon. "Did you just disappear a moment ago?"

Shamanmon shook his head. "No." He looked at Joe curiously. He walked over to Joe and looked up at him, trying to get a closer look. Joe bent down to his level, trying to concentrate on the brilliant green eyes and not the stitched mouth. "You're different than when I met you," he said simply. "You smell different." Shamanmon peered up into his eyes. "You look different." His eyes flashed with an intense light. "You are different. You shouldn't be here," his voice was calm, merely stating a fact. He turned around and rejoined his friend.

"Shamanmon, that was very rude," Elecmon scolded. He turned to Joe. "What did he do to you? I've never seen his eyes flash like that. Digimon are known to pick up new powers after they are reborn, but I haven't seen anything like that from Shamanmon. Did he hurt you?"

Joe held up a hand so Elecmon would stop. "It's all right, he didn't hurt me. I'm more worried about what happened to Shamanmon. This outburst came after he disappeared briefly. Do you think it's related?"

Elecmon shook his head. "I don't know. Like I said, nothing like this has happened before. What do you think he meant when he said you were different?"

Joe shrugged it off. "It's probably because I'm a human in the digiworld. I seem different because when Wizardmon met me I was fully human, but he thinks I don't belong in the digiworld because I'm human."

"Still, something about this bothers me," Elecmon said.

Joe looked at the sky. The sun was already past its peak, and there was still the long walk back to consider. "Hey Gomamon, we should get going if we want to get back before sundown."

Gomamon and the little ones to whom he was telling the story all whined in chorus. "I was just getting to the best part," Gomamon complained.

Joe grinned. "Is that the part where the brave human tackles the evil Unimon to try and remove the black gear and save his friends?"

Gomamon grinned back. "No, it's the part where the brave, young, (and extremely cute) digimon has to digivolve to save his foolish human companion."

Joe had to laugh. "Come on, let's head back. We have to tell the others about Shamanmon."

"Right behind you, old man," Gomamon joked. Joe rolled his eyes. He had thought Gomamon had forgotten about that comment by now.

Joe turned to Elecmon. "It was good to see you again. We'll probably be back tomorrow, and I'll bring Kari and Gatomon with us as well. They'll probably want to see Shamanmon, and it'll be a good test to see how much he remembers. Keep an eye on him and the others, okay?"

Elecmon nodded. "I will. Hurry back." Joe waved goodbye and started to walk away. Gomamon followed at his heels.

"Bye, Elecmon," Gomamon chirped, bounding past in a flurry of movement.

Just before noon the next day, Elecmon could see Joe's tall head bobbing over the hilltop. "Ho, Joe!" he called out.

"Ho, Elecmon!" Joe returned. "I've brought some friends with me: Gomamon, Kari, and Gatomon. They want to see Shamanmon."

Elecmon waited until he could see the others come over the hill. "Right this way," he said, motioning them over to the toddlers' section. In a more quiet voice, the caretaker digimon said, "I haven't noticed anything wrong with Shamanmon since you left yesterday."

Kari's eyes widened. "There's something wrong with Shamanmon?"

Elecmon looked at Joe accusingly. "You didn't tell her?"

Joe laughed apologetically, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I thought it'd go better if they didn't know? You know, to see if they noticed that anything was wrong all on their own?"

"What's wrong with Wizardmon?" Gatomon said defensively, trying to mask her worry.

"He's Shamanmon now," Joe said soothingly. "And we don't know if anything is wrong with him. He disappeared briefly yesterday and acted strangely afterward. That's all that happened." He turned to Kari. "Oh yes, and Kari, Shamanmon may say something along the lines that you are different or don't belong here. We're not exactly sure what it means, but I think it has to do with the mixing of the worlds." He turned to Elecmon. "Did I miss anything?"

"The memories," Elecmon prompted.

"I already told them about that," Joe said.

"Well then, let's have the reunion," Elecmon said, clapping his hands together. He looked through the crowd of little ones, searching for a dark purple hat. "Shamanmon, come over here."

A purple digimon with large, wing-like ears had been teaching Shamanmon how to do a somersault—an interesting feat considering that Shamanmon had no arms at this stage of life. At the sound of his name, Shamanmon looked up at Elecmon. A strange look entered Shamanmon's bright green eyes; they glowed slightly. He ran up to Gatomon, silently looking into her bright blue eyes for an indeterminate amount of time. Finally, he breathed, "You…"

Gatomon smiled. She reached out and gently touched the single tear that fell from his still glowing eyes. The glow slowly faded away. Gatomon's hand rose to her own face, surprised to find tears dampening her fur. Gatomon reached out and spontaneously hugged Shamanmon to her, holding him close as she had never done before. "I thought I'd lost you only hours after I'd found you again," she whispered in his ear.

"Who are you?" Shamanmon asked. "I know you're my friend, but who are you?" He took a step back, easing out of Gatomon's embrace.

He looked at Kari, and his eyes began to glow again. "You. I remember you. You were with me. You were with me, and you were with her," he said, indicating Gatomon. His eyes narrowed as he tried to remember something. "There was…a man, an evil man. He was going to hurt you, hurt you both, and I…I remember something red, no, it was it black, or a lot of black things, and then I think I saw red? I was hurt, I remember that I was in great pain, but I was happy for some reason, and then…" He closed his eyes, shaking his head desperately, trying to rid the image from his mind. "Then I wasn't in pain anymore." He opened his eyes again, staring directly at his friend with sudden recognition. "Gatomon!" he cried.

"Oh, Shamanmon," Gatomon sighed, holding him close.

Gomamon gave a heartfelt sigh. "I just love reunions," he said sappily. He turned to his human companion. "Don't you, Joe?" Joe wasn't paying attention. "Joe?"

Joe turned to Elecmon, a worried expression on his face. "I don't want to alarm the others, but while you were watching the reunion, I was watching the little digimon," he whispered to the caretaker digimon. "At least five of them disappeared and reappeared."

Gomamon pestered Joe. "Joe? Don't you just love reunions? Joe?"

Elecmon seemed worried. "Are you sure? It's hard to keep track of them all."

Joe nodded his head. "I'm positive."

"Joe? Joe? Jo-oe?" Gomamon pestered.

Joe finally turned to look at him. "What is it?"

Gomamon sighed exaggeratedly. "I said, don't you just love reunions?"

"Sorry, I must have been zoning out for a moment. Yeah, uh, they're great." Joe seemed distracted.

The wind changed directions, blowing past Joe, Elecmon, and Gomamon towards the others. Shamanmon froze in Gatomon's arms. He quickly turned away from her and faced Joe. "You…" Whatever warm emotions he had been feeling were gone, replaced by anger and fear. "You smell _different_," he accused, walking towards Joe. His eyes blazed. "You _look_ _different_." He took another step towards Joe.

Joe held up his hand, backing away from the angry digimon. Gomamon stepped in front of Joe protectively. "Kari and I are different from you, but we're here to help," Joe explained.

Shamanmon shook his head. "Not her. You." His eyes blazed a brighter green. "You shouldn't be here. You don't belong here." The little digimon suddenly jumped into the air, somersaulting at the highest point. "Mystical Spiral!" he cried out, and a bright spiral of yellow lights burst out, aimed at Joe.

"Joe, look out!" Gomamon cried, pushing Joe out of harm's way. The two landed in a heap on the ground.

Gatomon quickly restrained Shamanmon, throwing her arms around his tiny body and tightly holding on. The rest of the little digimon were extremely frightened. They huddled in little groups, trying to comfort one another. Several of them were crying pitiably.

Elecmon shooed Gomamon and Joe into a nearby tent. "Perhaps it's best if you stay out of his sight for the time being," he whispered urgently. The two thought it was a good idea.

Shamanmon relaxed in Gatomon's arms. "It's all right, Gatomon, you may release me now," he said quietly. "I don't understand what came over me." Gatomon released him wordlessly. He slumped on the ground, defeated. "I have these memories of being Wizardmon, but I'm also Shamanmon, who is an entirely new person, and even within Shamanmon there's this strange other sight, a power that is almost a force of its own. It's a very tenuous balance. There's something very wrong going on, and the new Shamanmon knows this instinctively, somehow."

Kari walked up to Shamanmon and placed a cautious hand softly on top of his head, trying to soothe his fears. "Do you know what is wrong?" she asked gently, conveying a sense of wisdom beyond her years.

Shamanmon shook his head roughly. "It might be me, it might be him, it might be all digimon, or the world, or both our worlds. I don't know," he said helplessly. "Something is simply _wrong_."

Kari turned to Gatomon. "We should ask Gennai about this. He may know what is wrong, or could point us in the right direction."

Gatomon nodded her head. "Right." She cast a wary look at Shamanmon, slumped defeated on the ground. Her tone lowered until it was barely audible to Kari. "It might be best if we keep him away from you and Joe for a while."

Despite her soft tone, Shamanmon heard this comment. His head immediately jerked up. "You will come back to see me again, won't you?" he asked desperately.

"Of course," Gatomon said, her distinctive feline voice strangely soothing. "We just need to make sure that it's safe."

"Good," Shamanmon said, somewhat relieved.

"We should get going," Kari said. "We need to tell the others about this as soon as possible."

Gatomon wrapped her arms around Shamanmon again. If the two did not seem happy, they were at the very least contented. "I'd never willingly harm you," Shamanmon whispered intimately. "You know that, don't you? I'd rather die than see any of you hurt."

"I know. You already have," Gatomon whispered back. "The moment we find out how to fix what's wrong, I'll come back here. I promise."

"Thank you for being my friend."

"Thank you for being mine."

After a long moment, Gatomon released Shamanmon. "Goodbye, Gatomon." Shamanmon's focus shifted past Gatomon. "Kari."

"Goodbye," the two said in sync.

They collected Joe and Gomamon and quickly headed back to camp. They walked back without taking a break. When they were more than halfway back, Joe pulled Kari aside, talking to her as they walked. "Kari, I'm worried."

"Oh, there's a surprise," Gomamon said sarcastically, having overheard Joe's comment.

Joe ignored him. "I think this disease, or dark force, or whatever it is, is affecting more than just the In-Training ranked digimon, like Shamanmon," he whispered. "I just saw Gatomon disappear briefly."

Kari's eyes were wide with fright. "Are you sure? She's been right beside me this whole time, and I haven't seen anything."

Joe adjusted his glasses. "Have you been actively watching her the entire time? Are you sure you didn't look away at some point?"

"Well, no," Kari was forced to admit. Joe had made his point. "Oh, Joe," she said, leaning in close to the older boy. He put his arm around her shoulder in a fatherly gesture. "Do you think Gatomon will be all right?"

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Joe assured her softly. "We've faced problems before, and we've always survived." He paused for a moment, considering something. "But you'd better not tell her what I saw. I've been thinking about it, and both times Shamanmon didn't become angry at me until he heard me talking about seeing the digimon disappear."

Kari nodded her head. "Right." She turned back to Joe. "What do you think's going to happen?"

Joe shrugged his shoulders. "Oh, probably the usual. Some bad guy will eventually appear out of the woodwork and tell us he's the cause of all this bad stuff, we'll fight him, he'll have the advantage for a long while, then one of our digimon will discover a special power, the bad guy'll be destroyed, end of story."

Kari giggled. "I hope you're right, Joe."

"So do I," Joe admitted. "Something about this has got me spooked." He looked at Kari and saw the worried expression on her face. He slapped his forehead in self-disgust. "I'm sorry, Kari. Like I said, I'm sure everything will turn out just fine. I shouldn't've said that I was spooked. Sometimes you act so maturely that I forget how young you are."

"I'm almost ten," Kari protested.

Joe chuckled. "Yes, you are," he agreed. "Pretty soon you'll be at the big double-digits. Kari, can you do me a favor? Can you be on the lookout to see if any more digimon disappear? I don't like being the only witness." She nodded in agreement. He gently removed his arm from around her shoulder and they walked in silence, increasing their pace so they would arrive at the campsite more quickly.

Back at the camp, Joe and Kari quickly explained the problem to the others. Only Izzy, Tai, TK and their digimon were at camp. Izzy immediately set to work on his computer, trying to contact Gennai. Tai used his digivice to contact the others to tell them to return to the camp immediately.

TK and Patamon seemed the most deeply affected by the news of the disappearing digimon. Patamon's eyes began to well up with tears. Pretty soon he was bawling like a baby. Any sign of the noble, dignified angel that dwelled within Patamon was gone.

"Patamon, what's wrong?" TK asked, holding his digimon close.

"I don't want to disappear," the little one choked out between sobs. "I want to stay with you forever."

"Don't worry, Patamon," TK comforted. "I'll tell you what. I'm going to hold you real close and tight, and that way there's no way you can disappear on me."

Patamon sniffled. "Do you think that'll work?"

TK gave his childish laugh. "Of course it'll work!"

"Good!" Patamon said, and snuggled closer to TK.

Gomamon lay on his back, drifting contentedly on the lake's surface. It had been an unusual day, but now there was nothing to do until the others arrived or until Gennai contacted them. He passed the time observing his human, sitting on the bank of the lake. Joe was staring at a brightly colored butterfly peacefully sitting on a flower. Gomamon wondered what Joe found so fascinating. The butterfly was not an uncommon variety, and it wasn't doing anything particularly interesting.

Joe watched as the butterfly flickered in and out of existence. It was there, it was gone. It was there again, it disappeared again. Joe finally had proof that it wasn't an optical illusion or a trick of his eyes—the digimon really were disappearing. He knew he had to get someone else to see this.

"Gomamon, look at this," Joe said softly, keeping his eyes on the butterfly. He didn't want it to fly away before he could get Gomamon to see.

Gomamon paddled over to where Joe was. "What is it, Joe?"

"Gomamon!" Joe called, raising his voice a little louder. He didn't want to scare the butterfly away.

"What?" Gomamon asked.

"Gomamon, come here. Now," Joe commanded.

"I am here, Joe. What is it?" Gomamon was becoming a little nervous.

Joe looked about, an annoyed expression on his face. "Just when you need him, you can't find him," Joe muttered to himself.

"What are you talking about? I'm right here," Gomamon said, more than a little worried.

The butterfly flapped its wings and disappeared into the forest. Joe stood up and walked away, calling, "Gomamon!"

A crafty expression crawled over Gomamon's features. "Is this a practical joke?" He nodded his head knowingly. "I get it. You're trying to get me to believe that I've disappeared. Ha ha, you got me. Now cut it out." Joe was already halfway to the campsite. Gomamon sprinted after him. "Joe, wait up!"

Tai and Agumon were in the clearing, as were Izzy and Tentomon. Joe walked up to Tai and sighed exasperatedly. "Tai, have you seen Gomamon anywhere?"

Tai pointed beyond Joe. "He's right behind you."

Joe turned, and sure enough, there was Gomamon. "Where did you disappear to?"

Gomamon growled, not happy. "I've been right behind you all the time."

"Oh, sure," Joe said rolling his eyes. "Then why didn't I—"

Joe was cut off by Izzy's call. "Hey, guys! Gennai's calling!"

Within minutes, the five children and their digimon, as well as the newly-arrived Sora and Biyomon, were gathered around Gennai's holographic projection.

"Ah, hello there, children," the old man said cheerfully. "Izzy, how are the latest updates on your computer working out?"

The computer wizard grinned. "They're working out just great, Gennai," he replied.

"Good, good." The old man sighed. "I suppose you're wondering why I've decided to contact you all so quickly."

"Not really," Tai said. "We did try to contact you today, and all."

Gennai continued on as if he hadn't heard Tai. "The truth of the matter is, there is a new problem which you must face, one very different than any other you have faced before."

"Is it about the digimon disappearing?" Joe asked.

A strange look crossed Gennai's face. "Yes, it does have something to do with that," he said. He gave the distinct impression of not revealing the full truth.

"I knew it!" Joe said, glad to have his suspicions confirmed. "There _is_ something wrong with the digimon."

Gennai suddenly looked older, sadder. "No, Joe. There is nothing wrong with the digimon. There is something wrong with you."

Joe was taken aback. "Me? But, nothing, nothing happened to me. It was the digimon that…" he trailed off as Sora put a soothing hand on his shoulder.

"Let Gennai explain," she said gently.

Gennai did so. As if on cue, the smiles on the children's faces faded away as Gennai spoke. Surprisingly, Joe asked no questions, made no reaction, and unconsciously separated himself from the others. Finally, with the sun setting and his patience tried, Joe asked for a moment alone with Gennai. He had only three questions:

"Is there a way to stop this?" No, there wasn't.

"What will happen to me if I don't leave?" Gennai wasn't certain, but his suspicions were horrible.

Finally, "How much time do I have?" Not long: one, two months at the most.

Joe hung his head and walked away. He thought he heard Gennai call after him, "I'm sorry," but it could have just been the wind blowing in the trees.

Joe sat with his back to a tree and stared at nothing for a very long time. Gomamon lay down beside him. He, too, had said very little during this time. Joe ignored the rustling of the leaves to his right, and hoped whoever it was would go away. He wasn't so lucky. Izzy sat down beside him, mercifully silent, and took out his laptop.

Finally, after an indeterminable length of silence, Izzy finally spoke up. "What did Gennai say?"

"There's no way to stop this," Joe said briskly.

"Are you sure we can't find a cure, some way to slow this down?" Izzy asked.

"A cure for growing older?" Joe snapped. "A cure for time?"

"I was just trying to help," Izzy said meekly.

"I know," Joe sighed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bite your head off like that. It's just," Joe sighed again. "It's just that I don't want to leave. It's funny," he said, and laughed sadly. "At first, I would have done anything to get out of the digiworld, to get home, go to school, do normal things. Now, I'd do anything to be able to stay here. I've almost forgotten what it was like in our world. I have to force myself to remember what my parents and brother look like. I'm not even sure if I even remember how to take a test. It's strange, but the digiworld has become more like home than our world ever was."

"I know what you mean," said Izzy, nodding his head. He had never felt connected to his own world, ever since he had found out he was adopted. This world held so many more friendships and experiences than his entire life in the other world. "At least you'll be able to see us again, in the future."

"But what about Gomamon? What will I do without him?" He glanced at the sleeping digimon, and whispered in a softer tone of voice, "What will he do without me? We've been together for so long, it feels like he's an actual, physical part of me."

Izzy understood. He felt the same way about Tentomon.

Joe laughed bitterly. Izzy jumped at the sudden change in Joe's temperment. "Do you know what I was thinking about when Gennai told us what would happen to me? I wasn't thinking about how much I'm going to miss everyone, or what I'm going to do when I get back, or how we're going to protect the digiworld from the reborn dark masters. I was thinking about a medical report Jim had given me."

Joe's voice became louder, as if he were lecturing a classroom of students. He waved his hand expansively. "Contrary to what researchers have previously thought, the human brain goes through not one, but two major sessions of growth. The first occurs in early childhood, where a great growth of patterns occurs, allowing the child to organize them into comprehensible thoughts and ideas. That's why a young child is able to learn so much in the beginnings of life. The second occurs in the teenage years. This strange growth allows a teenager's intelligence to grow, but it is also why teenagers are known to have severe behavioral problems. Not to worry, though. By the end of the teenage years, everything is organized into simple patterns of information again, and most of what isn't organized dies."

Joe realized how loudly he was talking and how uncomfortable Izzy was looking. He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "That's why I have to leave," he said, more calmly. "My mind can't handle the digiworld any more. The patterns which allowed me to interface with the digital world are falling into decay."

"How long do you have?" Izzy asked.

"Two months at the most, but I'll have to leave before then."

"And if you don't leave?" Izzy asked gently.

"I may become stuck here. Gennai explained the whole process of what he thinks is going to happen to me." He shuddered involuntarily. "I don't want to risk it. He says that first I'll not be able to see the residents of the digital world. That means all the digimon. That's already happening to me. Then he says that I'll lose sight of the non-digimon creatures. That means the digidestined. Pretty soon I'd be in an empty landscape, and soon after that I wouldn't even have any surroundings. It'd all be blank. That's the point where I wouldn't be able to go back to our world. I wouldn't be able to see the gate."

Izzy shuddered. "And you'd be stuck like that forever? Just you in a blank place?"

Joe shook his head. "If what Gennai says is right, I wouldn't even be there. Soon my own body would fade away. I wouldn't be able to see anything, feel anything, not myself, not anything! I don't know if I'd even be able to think! I'd just... be. Exist. Until I die. Or maybe, forever."

"Forever?" Izzy repeated.

"Forever," Joe said. "And that's why I have to leave." He sighed again, and noted to himself that he'd been sighing an awful lot that evening. He made a silent promise to himself that he would not sigh any more, would not feel sorry for himself any more. "And that's why, eventually, all of you will have to leave." Joe slowly stood up.

"Where are you going?" Izzy asked.

"Gennai said I had at least a month left. I want to see the digiworld one last time," Joe explained. "Tell the others that I've gone. I don't think, I don't think I can face them right now."

Izzy nodded. "When will you be back?"

Joe shrugged. "Some time before my time is up." He swiftly left, avoiding the other children as he packed his duffle bag and returned to the spot where Gomamon was sleeping. He placed a hand on the small creature's shoulder and shook it slightly. "Let's go," he whispered.

Izzy was still waiting there. He awkwardly stuck out his hand at Joe. Joe took it just as awkwardly, and they shook hands. Suddenly, Joe pulled Izzy to him and hugged him hard. "Thanks for listening." Joe released him from the warm embrace, turned, and walked back towards the camp. He stood there, looking at everyone, trying to impress every detail of the picture into his head. Satisfied, he nodded his head, turned back to where Gomamon was still waking up, gathered the little one in his arms, and walked away from camp.

Within seconds, Gomamon had squirmed his way out of Joe's arms and was walking beside him, fully awake. "Hey Joe, I've got a question."

"Shoot," Joe said.

"Is it still too late to trade my digidestined in for a younger model?"

The last thing Izzy heard as the two friends walked away was Joe's laughter.

They traveled for a long time. They saw the nursery and said goodbye to Elecmon and the young digimon. Joe did not want to chance another meeting with Shamanmon, but instead told Elecmon to say goodbye for him. Elecmon said he would relay the message on to Shamanmon.

They traveled to the desert, to the ruins of the old city where Joe had worked like a slave, to the jungle house where Puppetmon had tormented his friends, to the ocean where he had almost drowned, to the frozen lands of snow and ice, to the great, towering Infinity Mountain.

Finally, several weeks later, Joe and Gomamon arrived at the beach where they had found the telephone booths and spent the first day of their life together in the digital world. It was evening. Joe had built a fire. His eyes were unfocused, gazing not at, but through the flames. Gomamon sat beside him, his head resting on Joe's lap. Slowly, Joe's eyes focused on Gomamon. "Hey there," he said sleepily.

"Hi yourself," Gomamon returned.

"Do you remember the first day we met?" Joe reminisced.

"Don't tell me you're developing amnesia too," Gomamon said sarcastically. "Sure I remember. You wore that blue dress, I had a flower in my lapel, our eyes met across a crowded dance floor..."

Joe was forced to laugh. "I guess it did sound like a cheesy line from a romance movie," he admitted. "And the first time we met was certainly not the most wonderful of introductions."

"That probably had to do with the fact that you went running and screaming from me," Gomamon pointed out.

Joe nodded his head. "True, true. Of course, that might have been somewhat due to the fact that you confused my head with a chair. All in all, not the best beginning for a friendship."

"We were friends since before we were born," Gomamon pointed out in a brief moment of sentimentality.

"Still, I don't think that our friendship was cemented until we climbed Infinity Mountain together," Joe said.

"So I guess you're expecting me to thank you for being such an idiot for trying to climb that mountain by yourself?" Gomamon asked.

Joe smirked. "Tell me who's the bigger idiot: The person who decides to climb a mountain by himself, or the digimon who decides to go with him?"

Gomamon put on a show of thinking deeply before responding, "The person who decides to climb the mountain by himself."

The two laughed together. "Thanks a lot," Joe said, ruffling Gomamon's mohawk. He took a deep breath. "Since our first meeting wasn't so great, what do you say we work on a memorable goodbye?"

Gomamon immediately became serious. "What do you mean, goodbye? You have at least two more weeks before Gennai said you have to leave."

Joe sighed. He wasn't sure how to say this. "It's getting worse, Gomamon. I haven't been able to see you all day."

"And here I thought you were just ignoring me," Gomamon grumbled.

Joe was slightly shocked. "I would never do that," he reassured. He squinted his eyes, rubbing them to clear away anything blocking his sight. "It's getting dark, Gomamon. I don't know how much longer I can hold on, and I have the feeling that after tonight..." he trailed off. "We really should say our goodbyes while we still can."

"Fine then, just give up. Goodbye," Gomamon huffed.

"Don't be like that," Joe said. "I don't want the last thing I hear you say to be a snotty remark."

"Would you rather share a tearful goodbye?" Gomamon said sarcastically.

"Of course not! Do you think the last time I see your face, I want to see tears running down it? That's not the way I want to remember you."

"I don't really feel much like smiling right now," Gomamon admitted.

"I understand," Joe said, a mischievous smile playing on the edge of his lips, conflicting with the moistness threatening to overflow in his eyes. "Hey Gomamon, do you know what the Jamaican man who became a digimon was called?"

"No, what?"

"Manmon," Joe said.

Gomamon rolled his eyes. "That wasn't very funny."

"I know," Joe admitted. "Do you know what the Jamaican woman who became a digimon was called?" Joe didn't wait for an answer. "Womon."

"That was pretty bad," Gomamon said, a slight smile at the edge of his lips at the sheer badness of the joke.

"I know," Joe admitted again. "Do you know what the Jamaican man who became a digimon said when he saw the Jamaican woman who became a digimon?" Joe asked. He waited until he saw Gomamon shake his head. "Whoa, mon!"

Gomamon snickered. "That was terrible."

"At least I made you laugh," Joe said. He held Gomamon's head in his hands and turned it so he could look into the tiny seal's eyes. "And now I'll be able to remember your smile forever."

Joe blinked his eyes savagely. He did so again. "Goodbye, Gomamon," he whispered.

"Goodbye, Joe," Gomamon whispered back. He watched as Joe's eyes struggled to focus, struggled to get one last look, before finally sliding away from Gomamon's face. "Joe?" The human made no sign of having heard Gomamon. "Joe?" Gomamon asked again. Still, no response. "Joe!" Gomamon cried out in an anguished voice. The night was dark, but the firelight was bright enough to see by. Not once did Joe's eyes focus on Gomamon. That was just as well, because Joe said that he didn't want to remember Gomamon being sad the last time they were together. Gomamon was glad that Joe wouldn't see him cry.

The next day, they headed back to camp. It was a disconcerting sight for the others to see; Joe was walking very slowly, not paying any attention to Gomamon. A squirrel-like creature ran across his path right in front of him, but he didn't jump back or make any noise. A fly landed on his arm, but he didn't twitch or brush it away.

The only one he spoke to was Izzy. "Tell me, is Gomamon still with me?"

Izzy nodded his head wordlessly. "Good. You can contact Gennai and tell him that I'm ready to leave tomorrow." Joe left without waiting for Izzy's response. It had been a long hike that day, and he didn't feel like talking to anyone.

Joe lay down and went to sleep, not in his private tent, but by the still-glowing fire. He wanted to feel the digiworld beneath him for one last night.

Mimi and Sora were surprised to see that Joe was back, but he was already asleep. They thought it strange that he looked so peaceful while he was asleep, but had to go through such terrible things during the time he was awake. They watched as Gomamon snuggled up to Joe and fell asleep beside him. Strange, but Joe seemed to be able to feel Gomamon's presence while he slept. He casually threw an arm around the little digimon and pulled him closer, as a child would to a favorite stuffed animal.

Mimi and Sora felt their eyes tear up. They were both thinking about their digimon and the fact that they were going to have to leave them in a year. They both retreated to their respective tents so their sobs wouldn't bother the sleeping pair and resolved to hold their digimon especially close to them that night.

The next day, they all marched to the gate that separated the digital world from the physical world. Gennai had already placed the cards next to their proper slots, and the only thing left was for Joe to place them in position.

"This is it, Joe," the old man said. "It's time to say goodbye to the digital world. Just place these cards in their proper slots, and you can go home."

Joe gave Tai a questioning look. "Gennai's here," Tai explained. "He said to say goodbye and put the cards where they need to be."

Joe nodded. He stepped up to the podium, then turned back around. "I thought a lot about what I was going to say to you all. I wanted to tell you each individually how much you mean to me." His voice cracked a little. "But I think that, after all this time, you already know."

He went down the line of children, hugging each in turn, not wanting to let any of them go, but knowing that he had to.

"It's been great having you on the team," Tai whispered to him.

"Thanks," Joe replied.

Matt said nothing, but hugged him with a fierceness that verged on hysterical.

"I'll miss you so much," Sora told him.

"I'll miss you too," Joe said.

Mimi started crying when it was her turn to say goodbye to Joe. "Shhh," Joe soothed. On impulse, he broke away from the embrace and gave her a brief, sweet kiss on the cheek. She blushed, but it momentarily stopped the tears. "That's better."

Izzy had difficulty wrapping his arms around Joe, but managed somehow. "Thanks for being there," he whispered.

"Thanks for being there, too," Joe returned.

Joe knelt down in front of Kari. "Take care of yourself," he instructed as he held her close.

Lastly, it was TK's turn. "I never had a little brother, but I always wanted one just like you," he confessed. Joe blinked as TK wavered in and out of existence. It was getting worse, and Joe knew that he had to go.

Finally, Joe was done. "Tell all your digimon that I'll miss them too," he said loudly.

"They heard," Sora said, emotions choking her voice. "They say that they feel the same way."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to do this last part alone," Joe said, turning back to the podium. "Only, Gomamon, could you stay?" Joe assumed that Gomamon had heard him.

Swiftly, Joe placed the cards in their appropriate slots. He paused only at the last one, the one in the upper left hand corner, the one that was so dear to him.

"Hey look, Gomamon, it's you," Joe said cheerfully, holding up the card. His face was straining against emotion. "Do you remember what I said before? About no tears when we say goodbye?" He laughed sadly. "It's harder than I thought."

He took a few calming breaths, and slowly a genuine smile formed on his face. "We always gave each other such a hard time, but neither of us meant much of what we said. I know it was always implied, and that we felt it, but we never really said, well... Gomamon, I'll miss you. And... I love you."

As he turned to put back the final card into its slot, he thought he saw a pair of green eyes peering at him out of the corner of his vision. And as the gates creaked open, he thought he heard a voice softly say, "I love you too, Joe." But he couldn't be certain.

No matter what he thought he saw or heard, it was time to go. Joe took a deep breath, held his head high, and entered the gates. He never looked back.


End file.
